Customer Reviews

The Early Louis Sullivan Building Photographs

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If you love architecture and want to understand the birth of modernism and tall buildings in America, and uniqueness of the Chicago school of architecture -- the inspiration for generations of American architects including Sullivan's student Frank Lloyd Wright -- you have to have this book. It is a gorgeous work of art, the design of the book is so simple and compelling, the large plate photographs do justice to both the beauty and ingenuity of the architecture as well as the architectural photography. For lovers of art books, architecture, black and white photographs, for those who want to own a book as a piece of art, this is a wise investment. I know I treasure it -- reading it is like taking a journey to the past, one in which American architects still dared to dream.

A collection of 125 luminous black and white photographs that do full justice to the power of Louis Sullivan's architecture. These photos, taken when the buildings were new, do not suffer from the distracting anachronisms that we are so used to experiencing as we try to comprehend his work some 100 years after the fact. Indeed looking through this volume is like taking a trip back in time to an era of horse-drawn wagons and bowler hatted men. The large, sharp plates draw one in, inviting contemplation of the powerful massing and delicate ornament so masterfully employed by Sullivan.

While many of the buildings here are represented by one or two photos, others are given extensive interior and exterior coverage. The latter include the Guaranty Building, the Babson Residence, the Auditorium Building as well as five of the 'jewel box' banks (those located in Owatonna, MN; Grinnell, IA; Newark, OH; Sidney, OH and Columbus, WI). An appendix provides smaller sized photos of other select works. Extensive text discusses the taking of the photographs and provides information on the photographers.

My highest recommendation for this book. A must have for anyone interested in the work of Sullivan.